In October 2015, CPRE’s members were profiled to see if they lived in a rural or urban environment. The survey shows that in a snapshot of time (October 2015) CPRE’s membership is split as 54% rural and 46% urban.

In October 2015, CPRE’s members were profiled to see if they lived in a rural or urban environment. The definition of rural and urban is based on the 2011 rural-urban classification of output areas (OA) which was used in the 2011 Census.See the attached report for more information.

We believe a beautiful, thriving countryside is important for everyone, no matter where they live. Millions of town and city dwellers recharge their batteries with a walk or a bike ride in the local Green Belt, spend weekends and holidays in our National Parks, or enjoy fresh local produce. People who live in rural areas keep our countryside beautiful and productive.

The countryside is unique, essential, precious and finite – and it’s in danger. Every year, a little more is lost forever to urban sprawl, new roads, housing and other developments. Rural shops and services are closing, and increasingly intensive farming is changing the character of the countryside. Climate change, too, will have serious impacts on the rural environment.

Protecting and shaping the English countrysideWe work locally and nationally to stand up for the countryside: to protect it from the threats it faces, and to shape its future for the better.

Standing up for your countrysideCPRE has been standing up for the countryside for over 80 years. In that time, we’ve seen some remarkable successes. We’ve helped win protection as National Parks for some of our most remarkable landscapes, from the Lake District to the South Downs. We’ve helped to influence and apply planning laws that have, against the odds, preserved the special beauty and character of the English countryside.

Unlike many environmental charities, CPRE has no vested interests – we own no land, rely solely on donations and grants, and are politically independent. We make decisions with the head not the heart, as much as we love the countryside, and we are possibly the only green group which has a completely holistic approach. Planning, in particular, is all about looking at the bigger picture, and our wide remit means we have to consider the whole of the country – rural and urban – when creating policy.

We want to see a protected countryside, but within the context of a healthier economy and a happier community, and we don’t think they are mutually exclusive. CPRE believes that people have the right to enjoy a protected countryside, and we have the ambition to make it happen.

Achievements like rural planning, National Parks and Green Belts didn’thappen overnight; they took decades of campaigning, careful organisation and reasoned argument. At many stages they seemed impossible dreams, but now it is hard to imagine an England without them.

The reason we were able to achieve these things? We were armed with a clear and compelling vision, in the form of Sir Patrick Abercrombie’s manifesto. Above all, CPRE has always campaigned on its values, and it is this ethos that runs through our Vision for the Countryside of 2026, our centenary year.

It is worth exploring the main messages of that Vision as we focus on the positive outcomes we want to achieve in the next 15 years.

Better planning will ensure we reinvigorate towns and cities, while local people will be able to take an active role in planning truly green energy and transport infrastructure.

New life in the countryside will emerge through affordable housing, transport, vital services and new business shaped by empowered ruralcommunities themselves.

Protecting local food will see farmers thrive and provide healthy, fresh and seasonal food for us all. Farmland will be recognised as far too valuable to build on – for its beauty as well as its productivity – and we will get close to self-sufficiency in food, hugely reducing food miles.

Our landscapes will have changed to incorporate wilderness, woodlands and wetlands, encouraging wildlife and allowing nature to become a barrier to climate change. Urban green spaces will link people in cities to our finest landscapes using Green Belts and hedgerows as wildlife corridors.

Green energy will be in harmony with the landscape – increasingly in small-scale networks which really benefit local communities and minimise damage to the environment. All buildings will be energy efficient and have close to zero-carbon emissions, while wasteful light pollution will be a thing of the past.

Above all, we will change attitudes – beauty, tranquillity, green spaces and local distinctiveness will be valued by all, creating deeper attachments to local landscapes and making quality of life and well-being as important as financial prosperity and economic growth.

I hope you will be encouraged to see that, nationally and locally, CPRE are already working towards achieving our Vision and actively persuading others to join the movement. Please join us in standing up for your countryside.

The CPRE exists to campaign for the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of the countryside. We often take this for granted, especially on the Isle of Wight, but vigilance and effort are often required to keep it that way. Your support is always appreciated.

To contact CPRE on the Isle of Wight please use the email link at the bottom of this page.

We’re an environmental charity, with over 200 local groups, a branch in every county and 55,000 members, and supporters – including more than 2,000 affiliated parish councils.

Our local knowledge and national profile means CPRE is effective in tackling both the specific issues that really matter to our members and the public, as well as the wider challenges the countryside faces.

Our members are united in their love for England’s landscapes and rural communities, and stand up for the countryside, so it can continue to sustain, enchant and inspire future generations.